NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation has given crucial funding to the New York Academy of Art, one of the few graduate art schools in the United States that focus on a purely classical approach to the visual arts.

The funding comes at a critical time for the Academy since it has recently expanded its continuing education and alumni programs, along with its master classes and special events.

The New York Academy of Art, also known as the Graduate School of Figurative Art, was founded in 1982, in the post-modern era, by post-modern artist Andy Warhol and writer Tom Wolfe, who were devoted to fostering the resurgence of figurative and representational art. The Academy provides a two year MFA graduate degree, combining intensive technical training with critical discourse. Curriculum requirements include painting, drawing, and sculpture. Much emphasis is given to studying anatomy and drawing, the foundation of Renaissance art. And yet, Academy students are not steered towards a career in representational art. On the contrary, students are encouraged to use classical skills to produce vital contemporary art.

The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation was founded by the financier, Jeffrey Epstein in 2000 to support cutting edge science around the world. The foundation has expanded into funding education in the arts and sciences wherever it finds excellence in teaching.

Today New York Academy is headed by David Kratz, its President. The Department Chairs, Faculty and Senior Critics are all prominent artists including, Vincent Desdiderio, Catherine Howe and John Jacobsmeyer. Housed in a landmark 1861 building in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood, there are 85 artist studios and 110 students.

"Rigorous training in technique, liberates the artist when approaching contemporary art," Jeffrey Epstein noted. "It gives him the tools to express himself precisely. The same can be said for the scientist when approaching science."

In addition to founding The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, Jeffrey Epstein is a former member of the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, the New York Academy of Science and a former Board Member of Rockefeller University. He is also the founder of The Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University.